Zakiya Dalila Harris: ‘Publishing is such a spoofable world’

The author of a debut novel about diversity in the workplace on how black people act around white people, embracing her hair, and what’s changed a year after George Floyd’s murderZakiya Dalila Harris was born and raised in Connecticut and is currently based in Brooklyn. Now a full-time writer, she previously worked in book publishing, an experience she draws on in her highly anticipated debut novel, The Other Black Girl, which combines thriller with social satire to tell the story of Nella, the only black employee at a fictional publishing house, until Hazel joins the company. The book charts how the two become frenemies, explores the challenges of surviving in a systemically racist workplace, and was the subject of a 15-way auction prior to publication in the US.What were your own experiences in publishing and how have they played into the book?I worked in publishing for two and a half years. I was an editorial assistant then promoted to assistant editor. I felt fortunate, as a part of me enjoyed editing and I felt I was good at it, but it’s also an exhausting job for an entry-level person in terms of the pay. I was also one of the very few black people in the company – it wasn’t as bad as Nella in the book, but I was the only black woman in editorial in a full-time position for a while. I thought: why does it feel like we’re living in 1955 still, in terms of what we value? Publishing is such a rich, easily spoofable world.Code-switching is the act of switching up how... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-06-05 17:00:15 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Zakiya Dalila Harris: ‘Publishing is such a spoofable world’"

‘On Swift Horses’ is a vibrant tale of unconventionality

Shannon Pufahl’s remarkable debut novel “On Swift Horses” tells a searing story about a forgotten side of 1950s America. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-01-28 20:36:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Megan Angelo’s ‘Followers’ looks at the hazards of our hyper-connected world

The debut novel examines the lives of people who are more interested in how they appear online than who they are in real life. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-21 17:44:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Katherine Kayne on the Strong Women of Hawaii’s Painful History

In this delightful debut novel Katherine Kayne sweeps us back to a Hawaii still mourning its lost kingdom, where ladies—their ballgowns covered in yards of protective fabric—gallop across the mountains and down the city streets on their way to polo matches and parties, men dance the hula as well... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-17 09:46:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Impossible Exercise of Interviewing Leonora Carrington

Heidi Sopinka’s debut novel The Dictionary of Animal Languages is the deceptively gentle tale of the aging artist Ivory Frame, whose character and life are based, both loosely and closely, in alternation, on Leonora Carrington. In fact, Sopinka was struggling to write the book—struggling to get... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-01-13 09:48:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Such a Fun Age Satirizes the White Pursuit of Wokeness

Kiley Reid’s debut novel is a funny, fast-paced, empathetic examination of privilege in America. Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2020-01-08 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

The Long Tail of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’

Delia Owens’s debut novel has sold more than four million copies — an astonishing trajectory for any new writer, much less for a 70-year-old wildlife scientist. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-12-21 10:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Considering Darryl Pinckney and Authenticity

This week, Lauretta Charlton reviews Darryl Pinckney’s collection of essays “Busted in New York.” In 1992, Edmund White wrote for the Book Review about “High Cotton,” Pinckney’s debut novel about a young black man coming of age. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2019-12-20 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Read Harder: A Debut Novel By A Queer Author

Find a new author to follow or the first book your fave wrote with this list of debut novels by queer authors for the 2020 Read Harder Challenge. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2019-12-18 11:31:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this

What We're Reading – December 2019

Text Me When You Get Home: the Evolution and Triumph of Modern Female Friendship by Kayleen SchaeferIt’s a non-fiction book about the change in perspective around female friendship over the last few years, featuring interviews with a huge range of people including Judy Blume. The book looks at... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2019-12-17 09:49:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this

‘Africaville’: Featured Fiction from Jeffrey Colvin

Today, we present an excerpt from a debut novel that earned praise from Victor LaValle, who called it a "gripping and moving book." The post ‘Africaville’: Featured Fiction from Jeffrey Colvin appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions

[ The Millions | 2019-12-10 19:30:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Katy Loftus promoted to publisher as Viking expands fiction publishing

Viking is expanding its fiction publishing programme and has bolstered its team by promoting Katy Loftus to publisher, while Vikki Moynes is also joining from HQ. Loftus, previously editorial director of Viking, is now publisher for the imprint with responsibility for a team dedicated to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-10 04:36:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Tramp Press bags 'stunning' Bourke debut

Tramp Press has bagged the “stunning” debut novel from Irish writer Niall Bourke. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-06 16:27:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Bloomsbury scoops McMullan’s debut novel

Bloomsbury will publish journalist Thomas McMullan’s debut novel The Last Good Man in November 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-03 21:48:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Legend bags 'stunning' debut from Mustafah

Legend Press has bagged Sahar Mustafah’s "stunning" debut novel charting the background to a shooting at an Islamic school in Chicago. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-03 17:48:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Harvill Secker wins Elaine Feeney's first novel at auction

Irish poet Elaine Feeney’s "dazzlingly inventive" debut novel As You Were will be published by Harvill Secker following an auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-02 15:33:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this

A Restless Housewife, a Closeted Vagabond, and Lady Luck

From the title, you might think that On Swift Horses is about cowboys, horse wrangling, rural landscapes—and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. Shannon Pufahl’s debut novel explores wide-open spaces and how people navigate them in a post-Depression, post-World War II, Baby Boomer era in Southern... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-11-21 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Ian Williams wins Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize for his debut novel.

Ian Williams, winner of this year’s $100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his debut novel Reproduction, began his acceptance speech Monday night with an emotional tribute. “Margaret Atwood over there is the first book I bought with my own money at a bookstore in Brampton,” he told the audience.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-11-19 20:30:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this

Interview With Beth O’Leary, Author of WHSmith 2019 Fiction Book of the Year

Congratulations to Beth O'Leary! Her debut novel The Flatshare was recently announced as 2019 Fiction Book of the Year by the British retailer WHSmith—an honor previously bestowed on books such as Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and The Girl on the Train by Paula... Continue reading at Writer's Digest

[ Writer's Digest | 2019-11-19 11:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this